Narrator

A narrator is the imagined 'voice' assumed to be telling the story to the audience. A narrator is often the main character. However, the narrator can be absent from, or present in, the Narrative events. This determines how much they know about the events they are narrating, and therefore how much they can tell the audience. The separation of the narrator and the narrator's point of view allows the reader to understand the characters' different Narrative perspectives.

What is the meaning of 'narrator'?

Fig. 1 - In the Iron Man films, is Iron Man or Tony Stark the narrator?

'Narrator' synonyms

The term 'narrator' does have some synonyms. Although you'll likely come across the term 'narrator' most often, it's useful to be familiar with the synonyms that could be used interchangeably. Some of these synonyms are:

• Storyteller
• Recounter
• Reporter
• Teller of tales
• Chronicler
• Describer
• Anecdotist
• Romancer

The function of a narrator

The narrator is a quasi-fictional speaker constructed for the purposes of the story. The narrator presents the story to the audience and their views and opinions often differ from the author's views.

There are many types of narrator. To categorize a narrator, the reader must determine the degree of their participation in the story - much like the narrative point of view.

What are the types of narrators?

There are several different types of narrators. A narrator can be directly involved with the story, directly interact with the audience, or be detached or outside of events. These are separated into first, second and third-person narrators.

What is a first, second, and third-person narrator?

A first, second, and third-person narrators all have a different point of view of the story, and the reader can identify them using the pronouns that define them:

What are different examples of narrator?

A narrator can be narrating in the first, second or third person. As well as these types, different examples of narrator can be exhibited in stories.

The different examples of a narrator are:

• Reliable narrator
• Unreliable narrator
• Intrusive narrator
• Self-conscious narrator
• Subjective / objective narrators

We'll have a look at each of these in more detail.

What is a reliable and unreliable narrator?

A reliable narrator's account of the story is usually taken as authoritative. The reader believes the narrator because they present a straightforward, credible account of events.

The unreliable narrator is an untrustworthy storyteller who often uses the first-person point of view. Their account, perception, or interpretation of events may be faulty, misleading, biased, or distorted. An unreliable narrator's storytelling departs from a 'true' account or understanding of events. Their opinions can also deviate from the views of the author.

This table shows how the unreliable narrator can distort events in the narrative. However, an unreliable narrator is not simply a narrator who knowingly chooses to lie to the audience.

A literary example includes Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). The teenage narrator does not understand the full significance of the events he relates to the implied audience because of his inexperience.

Another famously unreliable narrator is Chuck Palahnuik's Fight Club (1996), which was made into a film in 1999, and developed a cult following. Voice-over narration in the film builds suspense and allows the audience to follow the narrator's thoughts, voice, and explanation of events as the narrator gets involved with Tyler Durden. However, the revelation that Tyler Durden is a phantom and part of the narrator's psyche makes the audience re-evaluate whether Durden was really there, or if it was the narrator who set up Fight Club.

Fig. 2 - Can you trust what the narrator is telling you?

What is an intrusive narrator?

An example includes George Eliot's Middlemarch (1871-1872). The intrusive, omniscient narrator reflects on Mr Casaubon's character and gives the reader a deeper insight into his mind:

This narrator interferes with the way we read the text by continually offering a moral commentary. Intrusive narrators, such as Eliot's, appear reluctant to let the novel, and narrated accounts, speak for themselves.

An unintrusive, or impersonal, narrator gives up their access to characters' feelings and motives which questions the omniscient point of view.

What is a self-conscious narrator?

A self-conscious narrator is one who draws attention to the novel's artifice, which is a characteristic of Metafiction. The self-conscious narrator uses techniques such as Foregrounding and defamiliarization. The technique exposes the discrepancies between fiction and reality - and helps break the boundary between author, narrator, and reader.

One example is EL Doctorow's The Book of Daniel (1971). Daniel narrates his thesis writing and recollects memories of his life. He is self-conscious of an implied audience looking over his shoulder, and so his writing style in the novel switches between third-person and first-person point of view:

His self-consciousness about writing the past with an audience in mind means he addresses the reader directly: 'who are you anyway? Who told you you could read this? Is nothing sacred?' (p. 60)

The self-conscious narrator is not always off-putting for the reader but makes the reader aware of their involvement in the narrative.

• First person.
• Second person.
• Some third person limited.

An objective narrator is considered an outside point of view that does not enter the characters' minds (except when they speculate on, or guess other character's thoughts). They, like the intrusive narrator, report, comment, and interpret events of the narrative. An objective narrator's point of view can be:

• Some third person limited.
• Third person omniscient.

What is a narrator vs. a narrative point of view?

The narrator and the narrator's point of view are different, as this table demonstrates:

In summary, the narrative point of view establishes how much the narrator knows, which then affects how the narrator tells the story.